Regional titles for Titans, Wildcats and Spartans

BaseballClass 2A Brimfield RegionalAnnawan-Wethersfield 3, Brimfield-Elmwood 0Up in class, same result for Annawan-Wethersfield.Matt Jenkins turned in the pitching performance of his life. He also had a hand in the sparkling defense and chipped in on offense in a 3-0 victory over top-seeded Brimfield-Elmwood in the Class 2A Brimfield Regional baseball title game on Saturday.A-W (25-7) will face conference rival Mercer County at 4 p.m. Thursday at Monmouth College in the Monmouth-Roseville Sectional.The Titans are in 2A this season after winning three consecutive 1A regional titles.“Getting out of that first inning without a run, that was key,” A/W coach Jeff Parsons said.Brimfield-Elmwood (20-8) starter Matt Dwyer struck out the side in the top of the first, and greeted Jenkins with a double to start the bottom of the inning.Jenkins retired the next nine and 16 of the next 17. He went all seven innings, allowed three hits and no walks with nine strikeouts.“That was the best game I’ve pitched,” he said.Jake Bennett led off the top of the third with the first of his three hits. He advanced on a walk and later scored on Tyler Litton’s opposite-field double.In the fourth, Jenkins singled, took second on a wild pitch and scored on a ground out.A-W stretched its lead to 3-0 in the seventh. Trey Hannam led off with a single. He advanced to second on a ground out, took third on a wild pitch, and beat the throw home on Litton’s grounder to second base.Litton made a bare-handed grab and off-balance throw to nip Carson Cuevas at first on a lead-off bunt in the sixth.In the B-E seventh, Jason Harkness led off with a single, and Nick Jehle followed with a head-high liner back toward the mound. Jenkins got just enough glove on Jehle’s liner to slow the ball. Shortstop Cody Phillips picked it up, stepped on second and fired to first for a double play.“They made plays and they were good today,” B/E coach Steve Paxson said. “The play on that bunt in the sixth, that was huge. The double play in the seventh, that was a heartbreaker.”(Lonnie Schwindenhammer, GateHouse News Service)

Class 1A Midland RegionalGalva-Williamsfield 10, Stark County 0, 5 inningsThe Galva-Williamsfield baseball co-op accomplished a first Saturday.Tyler Doubet tossed a 1-hitter to lead the Wildcats to a 10-0 win in five innings over Stark County in the championship game of the Class 1A Midland Regional.The win — G-W's first-ever regional title — sends the Wildcats (13-7) to the Illinois Wesleyan Sectional, where they face Illini Bluffs at 6 p.m. Wednesday."We have such high quality kids and to me it's just so important that they got something," said G-W coach Charlie Sams of the regional title. "These kids will remember this. I told them 20 years from now when they walk in that gymnasium, there's going to be a banner hanging with their names on it. I'm very proud of these kids."Doubet struck out eight Stark County hitters and allowed only an infield single in the fifth inning of the 10-run rule win.“He was outstanding,” said Sams of Doubet’s effort on the mound. “We’ve seen him this good, but he’s not been as consistent this year as he was last year. We made some key plays behind him, and when you’re making good plays behind a good pitcher that makes him that much better.”The G-W offense struck with three runs in the second, highlighted by a leadoff double from Logan Smith, an RBI single from James Doubet and a squeeze bunt from Donovan Benson to score Doubet. The Wildcats added another run in the third as Smith hustled home all the way from second on an infield error by the Rebels.G-W broke the game open with five runs in the fourth inning. Another squeeze bunt by James Sams scored Collin Landis to make it 5-0.“We’re a good bunting team and we run the bases hard,” said Coach Sams of his team’s small-ball success.An outfield error by the Rebels allowed three more runs to score on a fly ball off Smith's bat. James Doubet drilled an RBI single to bring home pinch runner Easton Beard and stretch the G-W lead to 9-0.The Wildcats finished the regional title win in the bottom of the fifth as Landis slid home safely on a base hit by Sams.Sams and James Doubet finished with two RBI each for the Wildcats, while Smith and Landis scored two runs apiece.Logan Hollis took the loss for Stark County. The Rebels close the season at 10-13.(Mike Landis, sports editor)

Class 1A United RegionalRidgewood 2, ROWVA 1Some small ball sandwiched between two hits.That’s what it took for Ridgewood to top ROWVA 2-1 in the Class 1A United Regional Championship at Glasgow Field Saturday afternoon.The victory brought home the first regional crown for the Spartans, who were out hit by the Tigers 6-4.“Relief. A big monkey off our back,” said Ridgewood coach Seth Spivey, who is in his eighth season at the helm. “We had a great year last year but didn’t make it to the regional final. We’ve been in a regional final before and didn’t get it done.“There was a lot of pressure on us,” he added. “We knew we had the ability to do some things but we still had to go out and execute. Nobody is going to give it to you. ROWVA played real well today. It was awfully tough.”The Tigers (11-18) held a 1-0 lead over the Spartans (24-6) heading into the sixth inning thanks to a second-inning homer to left field by Asa Stevenson, who went 1-for-3 with an RBI.However, the momentum shifted in the bottom half of the sixth.Ridgewood shortstop Andrew Steider hit a lead off double to center. In the next at-bat, Ridgewood third baseman Nick Ragan was hit by a pitch from ROWVA’s Sam Rammage. Then, Nate Humphrey, who started in left field, laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Steider to third base and Ragan to second. Noah Shannon, who started on the hill, laid down a perfectly-executed suicide squeeze in the next at-bat which allowed Steider to score and moved Ragan over to third. With the game tied at 1-all, Jacob Cole hit a single to center, which allowed Ragan to score and put Ridgewood up 2-1. With Blayne Street at the dish, Cole was caught stealing second for the Spartans’ third out, but it was all Ridgewood needed.“We’ve had success running. We do bunt it well,” Spivey said. “We don’t sit back and wait for the three-run homer often. We have a couple of guys with some pop, but overall we know we have to execute offensively to score runs, which we were able to do today.“It was about being patient and getting the guys to stick with it. Hey, we are going to crack through,” he added. “We hit some balls early that they caught and didn’t get some things through. It’s preaching confidence to them. We were worried about small victories. If they stuck to balls they could catch we knew it would equate to base hits and a crooked number.” Shannon struck out Rammage, induced Robby Bush — who went 2-for-3 — to hit a pop up to Ridgewood second baseman Ridge Greenman and forced the Tigers’ Brandon Anderson into a ground out in the top of the seventh to secure the win. Shannon (8-0) allowed one run on six hits and struck out seven for the complete game victory.“He battled. I know that’s cliche but he battled all day long,” Spivey said about Shannon. “He kept us in the ball game. We didn’t know how long he was going to be able to go. Every time you think about making a change he makes a big pitch for you. There is nobody mentally tougher.”Rammage allowed two runs on four hits, walked two and fanned one in six innings of action.“Sam gave us everything he had. He’s a senior and has worked hard for four years. He pitched a really great game,” ROWVA coach John Clark said. “I thought we played well. We could have used a few more hits in a couple of situations.”“When you have to try a suicide just to tie the game then you know it’s a good game,” he added. “Ridgewood is a good team. Congratulations to them and good luck to them in the sectional.”The Spartans will face Lexington at 4 p.m. on Wednesday in Bloomington Sectional action at Jack Horenberger Field on the campus of Illinois Wesleyan University.“Our strengths have to be our strengths moving forward,” Spivey said. “We have to continue to pitch it well, which we did today. We have to execute offensively to score runs and play great defense. If we do those things we feel like we are as good as anybody. If we don’t then we will go home. It’s the same for all the 31 other teams who are moving on.”(Matthew Wheaton, GateHouse News Service)

SoftballClass 1A Lowpoint-Washburn RegionalPrinceville 3, Stark County 2, 8 inningsPrinceville pushed across the winning run in the top of the eighth inning to dash Stark County’s regional title hopes Saturday.The Princesses went up 2-0 in the top of the second thanks to a 2-out, 2-run single by Eureka College recruit Rachel Remmert.The Lady Rebels tied the game in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI double from Liz Hippen followed by an RBI single from Madisyn Paxson.Princeville capitalized on a Stark County error to score the game-winning run in the eighth.Josie Weber and Jordan Kraft had two hits each for Princeville (19-10). Kraft was the winning pitcher, allowing four hits and fanning 11 in eight innings.Hippen took the loss for Stark County. Her line was all eights — eight hits allowed and eight strikeouts in eight innings.Danielle Kenney had two hits for the Lady Rebels, who bow out at 19-6.